Beer: Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by mmmbeer:

4/5 rDev +9%look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Half-liter brown bottle, packaged 27/04/11. Pours auburn, with good carbonation and an inch of light tan head. The Ringwood yeast leads off in the nose with earthy and nutty notes, followed by a bit of malt and spicy/herbal hops. On the palate, it's the same yeast and hop profile as on the nose, and the malts are lighter than expected, but they do give notes of caramel and toast. Its fullish, moderately-carbonated body is creamy and chewy, with lingering bitterness. I think the Ringwood could turn some people off, but the beer is solid and quite sessionable.

It's a medium brown with good clarity to it, transparent but for the color itself. The pale head shows some density as it settles on top to 3/4 finger. Retention is good, and lacing is thin but drops in a really nice sheeting effect to about the middle of the glass. It shows some rigidity to it overall, staying together well.This beer showcases the strengths of the style; my main criticism would be that the yeast is a bit heavy and forward. Otherwise, the nicely complex blend of earthy, toasty, nutty and floral notes as well as its balance of each moderately strong malts and hops in the aroma and flavor make for a nice beer.It's got a good medium body to it without going thin or, on the other side, heavier than it should. It's creamy with a bit of dryness and flows very nicely.Is this Bitter the best? No. Is it good? Across the board.

500ml sturdy squat bottle. Nice to see another proper 'best bitter' available in Alberta.

This beer pours a clear, bright medium red-brick amber hue, with three fat fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and rather bubbly off-white head, which leaves some pleasant cobwebbed lace around the glass as it slowly seeps away.

The carbonation is present and accounted for, but does little to make you remember it, the body an adequate medium weight, and generically smooth, as those hops drop a metallic bomb right about now for some reason. It finishes off-dry, the bready caramel malt persisting mostly intact, amongst some increasingly peppy floral, leafy hops.

Picaroons' Best Bitter holds true to its God Save the Queen, or whatever British allegiances, right up until the veritably bitter end of this affair, when the hops exhibit a (relatively) heady dash of New World elan. Fairly crisp, sweet enough, and with that so-called elevated ABV for the style, I could envision downing a few of these should I ever find myself in a Maritimes public house.

New Brunswick? What a surprise, and what a winner best bitter. Very good ingredients: the malt, the yeast, the hops, the creamy mouthfeel. And me mates loved it just the same. An initial bite, with nuts and fruit. Amber-mahagoney dark. Fresh as if on tap. Must try.

S- Honey. Reminds me a lot of Boréale Rousse. Some bitterness lurking in the back.

T- Nice green hoppiness which I was not expecting. Malt is pretty sour though. I'd like a little more sweetness. Especially with the hoppiness bringing some grapefruit notes, part of it almost ressembles white grapefruit juice.

M- Medium carbonation. Full body. Medium mouthfeel.

D- Good. Bitterness is just right to stick to style while being highly drinkable but the sourness is a little off-putting.

Picked up from the brewery store in downtown Fredericton. Clear dark copper body with ruby highlights and a good cover of cream-white head. Some lacing left as the head dissipates.

The nose is of slightly-burnt caramel, light earthy hops and minerals, graham cracker and a touch of diacetyl, though it's nothing extreme. I seem to be catching a whiff of cigarette ash now and then, but not when I go looking for it. Strange.

Acceptable feel: medium-light body with moderate carbonation. This is probably the lesser aspect of this brew; the body could be a little fuller and the carbonation toned down.

Based on this brewery's reviews here I can't say I was expecting much but this one far exceeded my (admittedly low) expectations. Reviews seem to be all over the place, looks like I got a lucky good bottle. I'm picky when it comes to bitters as it's not one of my favourite styles but I think I'd honestly drink this one pretty often if I lived in Fredericton. I sampled three of their other offerings at the store and this one easily ends up as the highlight of the four Picaroons I've tried. I'm now wishing I picked up a few more of these...

Bottle courtesy of Okbeer: Poured a cloudy dirty brown color ale with a nice foamy head with some good retention. Aroma of malt with a light floral aroma. Taste is lightly sweet with some subtle floral hops. Body is fuller then expected with some adequate carbonation. Well done session ale that stays within the style parameter.

A: Amber color beer, cloudy. This beer isn't filtered. I like it. The head is creamy looking with average to big bubbles. The foam sticks quite well to the glass.S: The aroma is of medium intensity. I get caramel with some sugar.T: The taste is very caramel with an aftertaste that is all bitterness. I get some maple syrup at the very end...M: Medium body with enough carbonation to feel it. Sugary...D: Good session beer.

On the label, it is written that the flavor are nuts and caramel... after thinking about it, yes it reminds me a little of the Honey nut brown ale from Rogue...

Pours a murky orangeish brown with 2-3 fingers of foamy, soapy sticky head that leaves some lacing as it recedes. Way too heavy carbonation for a bitter.

Nose reveals the first WTF moment and it's all downhill from there (the head should have tipped us off perhaps). Funky lemon-y dish soap mixes with a decent but overpowered nutty, woody biscuit malt base. A hint of caramel in the body, malt tries to assert itself but is beaten down by this odd soapy funk. Light hop bittering in the finish. Infected? Perhaps. It's hard to tell. Fizzy, brash carb zips through the mouth. Nothing about this beer tells me it's an ESB.

I finished my portion but it wasn't pleasant. Hard to tell if this is what they intended to do or if they just have quality control issues (leaning this way). Either way, this bottle was a disaster.

Taste & Mouth - There is an above average amount of carbonation and I can taste caramel/toffee, light hops, and malts. There is also a bit of a roasted nut flavour and a woodiness. It ends with a malty and light bitter hopped aftertaste.

Overall - A solid ESB that might benefit from a touch less carbonation. The taste is pleasant and it's quite drinkable. Don't go out of your way to track down, but if you see it pick one up.